Lisa Rinna is getting candid about her sex life and the postpartum depression she experienced after the birth of her first child.
In a digital cover story with Cosmopolitan, the Real Housewives of Beverly Hills star, 60, opened up for the magazine’s special “Sex After 60” issue, discussing the wisdom that has come with increased years and experience.
“I’ve gotten to that place where at 60, I am so much more confident than I was at 30. I love this age because I’m freer and more confident and more passionate than I’ve ever been,” she tells the magazine.
Appearing on the cover in a sparkly sheer jumpsuit, the Days of Our Lives alum admitted to not always having felt so confident in herself and her sexuality, saying it took time and her relationship with husband Harry Hamlin to fully reach the place she is at today.
“I have not always been this in touch with my sexuality at all. I grew up very repressed, like everybody did in the ’60s. It just wasn’t something that nice girls did or talked about or flaunted, especially not in Medford, Oregon, where I was raised. You’re just a good girl, and you don’t say how you feel; you just try to be quiet. You can see how well that went for me. I rebelled, certainly after a while. But I toed the line really well for a very long time, even when I first met Harry,” she says.
Rinna and Hamilton first met in 1992 but were both in relationships at the time. Several months later, however, they started dating after their other partnerships ended. They eventually married in 1997.
In 1998, the couple welcomed their first child, daughter Delilah Belle Hamlin. Three years later, daughter Amelia Gray Hamlin was born. In the 25 years since Delilah’s birth, Rinna has been open about her struggles with the all-too-common mental health issue of postpartum depression (PPD).
“I had postpartum depression and I completely lost my mojo. I didn’t know I had it for the first 15 months of Delilah’s life, and then once we figured it out, I was treated for it, and I was ready for it when I had Amelia. I went on an antidepressant, which helped tremendously,” she tells the outlet. “Without that, I don’t know how long it would’ve taken. I’m very positive and a very happy person, and I felt completely hopeless. And that’s pretty scary when you’ve never had that happen in your life.”
According to the National Institute of Health, PPD is extremely common and can occur in up to 20 percent of new mothers. Additionally, one study found that as many as half of PPD cases in new mothers go undiagnosed.
For her part, Rinna said it took her tackling the issue at its core to eventually get her life and her sexuality back.
“Once I got myself back on track, it took a minute for me to figure out ‘what do I do?’ I think it’s hard after you have children to figure out how to get that sexuality back,” she says.
Stefanie Keenan/Getty Images for Balenciaga
As for her sexuality at the age of 60 and her intimacy with Hamlin, who is 12 years her senior, Rinna said they are lucky enough to still feel the desires and have all their capabilities intact.
“I mean, luckily not capabilities. I think that’s lucky for him, because at 72, who knows?” she jokes. “I do think that desire levels change for a man. That’s just the natural evolution of life. So it’s figuring out how to coexist without taking that personally as a woman. I think that it’s almost more about companionship and about creating space for the ebb and flow of sexuality. We really have great sex together, and we always have. It’s just that maybe it doesn’t happen quite as often as it did when you’re in your 30s and in your 20s, I would say. And I think that’s normal.”
Asked why she decided to do the cover, Rinna explained that she thought it was important to show women, including her own two daughters, that aging does not mean a death sentence by any means.
“I was so excited to shoot this cover because this is the kind of thing that moves the needle. It moves the needle for my daughters. It moves the needle for women to go, ‘Holy sh*t. You can do that. You do not have to give up, go out to pasture, calm down, turn it way down when you turn 60 or when you get older,'” she says.
Rinna’s interview with the magazine comes one year after she confirmed for the first time that she would not be returning to RHOBH following season 12. When asked if she regretted the decision, she had a resounding answer.
“No. God no. No, people think that maybe I do, but no, I didn’t regret it when I sent the letter, and I haven’t regretted it since,” she says.
In addition to the feature with cover star Rinna, the digital issue includes a survey from the Kinsey Institute that examines older women’s fantasies, libido and more. It also includes personal essays from Abbott Elementary’s Lisa Ann Walter, actress Jane Seymour and Friends co-creator Marta Kauffman — all women over the age of 60.
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